Was there something that inspired you to compete? AC: Yes, the first time ever I saw a barista competition. This was in 2014; I look back and I recall being impressed. I found all the baristas there so brave! Being on that stage and sharing coffee with the judges is difficult, and every single one of them had a lot of courage. Afterwards I said to myself, “One day I’m going to be there, one day I’m going to win.” So I trained and trained, and then competed for the first time last year and finished in third place. This year I trained harder and visited the farms in Veracruz in July. Part of my trainings were with the SWAT, which is a team of experts from San Remo who helped create the Opera espresso machine. I couldn’t have done this without Ana Garcia and Araceli Benitez, my coaches.